SEWING SILK AND TWIST. 97 



" The raw silk is first spooled on bobbins, the num- 

 ber of which is in proportion to the size of the in- 

 tended thread from the first spinning ; and to facilitate 

 the operation, they are put into warm water. The 

 silk is again spooled, taking two or three bobbins, ac- 

 cording to the size of the intended thread. After 

 being spun, it is reeled into skeins, each forty yards 

 in length, or half a knot of the country reel, as re- 

 quired by the law of the State. About twenty -five of 

 these skeins are put together, like a skein of cotton or 

 woolen yarn. They are then boiled, adding a small 

 quantity of soft soap, or ley of wood ashes, to cleanse 

 them from the gum. They are then ready for dyeing, 



" Silk twist is spun in the same manner, except that 

 it is always of three cords. The winding of twist is 

 done on a machine imported from England. 



" We have a small establishment for spinning by 

 water, witli a machine similar to a throstle frame of a 

 cotton mill. The silk is first spooled l-y hand, on 

 bobbins which are placed on the top of the frame ; 

 the thread of raw silk passing from it under a line, 

 through a trough of water, then through rollers to the 

 spindle. A single frame may contain from thirty to 

 fifty spindles, and can be attended by one person. 

 The doubling and twisting may be done on the same 

 frame, at the same time, by giving the bands to a part 

 of the spindles a contrary direction. As many threads 

 are put to a spindle us are required to make a thread 

 of two or three cords. Silk, spun in this way, is far 

 superior to that done by hand. The machine \\ill 

 spin from two to three pounds in a day. A pound 

 of silk, after being spun and cleansed, will weigh about 

 ten ounces, and form one hundred and seventy skeins ; 

 the threads of sufficient size to sew woolens. If spun 

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